Quote:
Originally Posted by awareness
Let's not forget that there would be no "Christianity" without "Christian." And that brings us to Paul and Antioch :
Act 11:26* And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.*
|
That's certainly significant in the shift of the church from being a Jewish sect to Christianity. The followers of Jesus in Judea and Galilee are never referred to as Christians in the Bible. Indeed the term Christian seems to be reserved for Gentile followers of Jesus.
Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire. It replaced Jerusalem as the center of the early Jesus movement. According to Acts a Christian Mission among the antiochian Jews began when refugees from persecution arrived after the martyrdom of Stephen [Acts 11:19].
In the centuries that followed Antioch became a great center of Christian learning. Ignatius who was martyred early in the second century CE was its third Bishop according to tradition. In speaking of the authority of the church Ignatius was the first to use the term "Catholic Church" in writing.